Riverview baseball ready for another playoff run

By: Michael Love
Saturday, May 7, 2022 | 11:01 AM

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Riverview and Springdale are rivals in every sport, and baseball this spring is no exception.

So, you can’t blame the Raiders players for being a little excited when they finished off a two-game Section 3-A sweep of the Dynamos last week.

Game 1 went down to the wire, and Game 2 was more comfortable. But both helped Riverview wrap up a spot in the WPIAL Class A playoffs and earn a chance at what they hope is a return trip to the WPIAL championship game at Wild Things Park in Washington.

“I love beating Springdale. I love all the chirping back and forth. I love the rivalry,” said Enzo Lio, who hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to left for a 6-5 Game 1 win over the Dynamos. Lio also picked up the pitching win in Game 2’s 10-1 triumph.

“The first game, we were down, but we stuck together and rallied as a team. (Game 2) was probably the best I felt on the mound since last year against (Greensburg Central Catholic) in the playoff game. It was a total team effort in both games. It’s been that way all season, and it will need to be that way in the playoffs.”

Ben Hower drove in a run in the 6-5 win and pitched into the fourth, allowing no runs on three hits while striking out seven and walking one.

In Game 2, a seven-run second inning for Riverview all but put the game away and was the cushion Lio needed as he surrendered one run on four hits with just one walk and 11 strikeouts.

It was a group effort in the seven-run second as Daniel Roupas, Hower, Luke Migely, Jack Loughran, John Patsey and Taylor Zellefrow all drove in runs.

Vinnie Shook, Tyler Aftanas, Hower, Lio, Zellefrow, Loughran, Eli DeVita and Roupas all recorded hits in the second game of the series.

“We’ve had freshmen through seniors stepping up,” Lio said. “It’s not just been one guy.”

Riverview understands it is a team now that others in Class A want to knock off in the playoffs after victories over GCC and Jefferson Morgan in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, on consecutive days last year.

The Raiders put up a fight in the finals against Union but were not able to generate the needed offense in the 3-0 loss.

Third place in the section with possible playoff-seeding implications came down to a pair of games against Leechburg on Monday and Tuesday, past the deadline for this week’s edition. Monday’s game with the Blue Devils at 3 p.m. at Riverside Park was scheduled to be senior day.

The series originally was to be April 19 and 20, but rain and poor field conditions wiped out both games.

Riverview and Leechburg went into the section-finale series both at 4-4.

The Raiders made quick work of St. Joseph in two games to kick off section play before falling twice to section leader and undefeated Eden Christian, 7-0 and 4-1.

The Sewickley Academy series came down to a pair of one-run results with the Raiders on the wrong end of both.

In the first game, Riverview led 6-0 after the first inning before the Panthers rallied, finishing off the win with nine runs combined in the fifth and sixth innings.

The second game saw Sewickley Academy lead 6-2 after five innings before the Raiders rallied to take a 7-6 lead in the top of the sixth. But the Panthers scored two in the bottom of the sixth and held Riverview off the scoreboard in the top of the seventh.

“We all thought we had the first game here in the bag, but we kind of let off the gas a little bit,” Lio said.

“That wasn’t the greatest move. The next day, we felt good and were looking good, but a couple errors in the field, and the bats weren’t as hot as they had been, and we just didn’t come out with the win. It was frustrating.”

Riverview caps the regular season at 3 p.m. Friday with a nonsection game against Class 4A playoff qualifier Highlands at Riverside Park. The playoff pairings also are expected to be released Friday.

“The guys are itching to get to the playoffs and see what they can do,” Riverview coach Bill Gras said.

“We still have a little more work to do to be ready. The guys need to know that (playoff opponents) aren’t going to just hand it to us. They have to earn it.

“The last three wins, the one against Apollo-Ridge and the two against Springdale, they really gave the guys confidence. They are getting that swagger back they had last year. But they can’t get overconfident.”

In the win over Apollo-Ridge, the Raiders led 9-2 after two innings and 12-3 after three before the Vikings rallied to make things interesting.

Shook picked up the pitching win, and also went 3 for 5 at the plate.

“We’re playing well right now, and hopefully we can stay in a groove heading into the playoffs,” Shook said.

“We need to all be on the same page, but I think we are ready to make a run like last year.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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